Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value
Explores the success factors leading to one's company's rise to the number three ranking in the aggressively competitive toy industry. LeapFrog has made the strategic decision to exploit its educational model in two industry sectors: consumer toys and educational supplemental materials. Senior executives face a number of challenges in sustaining the company's growth. Critical to its success is LeapFrog's ability to leverage its core assets, while simultaneously closely managing its relationships with customers, distributors, suppliers, and partners across these two very different industry sectors.
Authors :: Lynda M. Applegate, Christopher Dede, Susan Saltrick
Topics :: Strategy & Execution
Tags :: Business models, Entrepreneurial management, Managing people, Social enterprise, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Christopher Dede, Susan Saltrick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Leapfrog Educational facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business models, Entrepreneurial management, Managing people, Social enterprise and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Leapfrog Educational, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Leapfrog Educational operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Leapfrog Educational
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Leapfrog Educational
Strengths Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Leapfrog Educational in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Leapfrog Educational is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Leapfrog Educational is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Leapfrog Educational are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Leapfrog Educational has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Leapfrog Educational is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Leapfrog Educational to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Leapfrog Educational to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Leapfrog Educational has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High brand equity
– Leapfrog Educational has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Leapfrog Educational to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Leapfrog Educational has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Leapfrog Educational has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Leapfrog Educational is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Leapfrog Educational in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Leapfrog Educational is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Organizational Resilience of Leapfrog Educational
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Leapfrog Educational does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value HBR case study mentions - Leapfrog Educational takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value, it seems that the employees of Leapfrog Educational don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Leapfrog Educational has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Leapfrog Educational is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value, is just above the industry average. Leapfrog Educational needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value, in the dynamic environment Leapfrog Educational has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Leapfrog Educational has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Leapfrog Educational is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Leapfrog Educational needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Leapfrog Educational to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Leapfrog Educational, firm in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Leapfrog Educational 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Leapfrog Educational has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Leapfrog Educational has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Leapfrog Educational to increase its market reach. Leapfrog Educational will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Leapfrog Educational has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Leapfrog Educational to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value case study. Leapfrog Educational can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Leapfrog Educational can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Leapfrog Educational can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Leapfrog Educational in the consumer business. Now Leapfrog Educational can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Leapfrog Educational can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Leapfrog Educational can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Leapfrog Educational to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Leapfrog Educational can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Leapfrog Educational in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Leapfrog Educational can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Leapfrog Educational has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Leapfrog Educational to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Leapfrog Educational can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value are -
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Leapfrog Educational.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Leapfrog Educational demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Leapfrog Educational business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Leapfrog Educational in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Leapfrog Educational is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Leapfrog Educational needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value, Leapfrog Educational may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Environmental challenges
– Leapfrog Educational needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Leapfrog Educational can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Leapfrog Educational can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value .
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Leapfrog Educational in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Leapfrog Educational with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Learning from LeapFrog: Creating Educational and Business Value is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Leapfrog Educational needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.